Early Winter
by taiyakisoba
Summary: Jealous of Marisa's increasingly intimate friendship with Alice, Reimu finds herself unable to confront her feelings about her friend. But when Yukari drops by to celebrate the last night before her winter hibernation, things become even more complicated...


**Early Winter **by taiyakisoba

_Reimu X Marisa; Marisa X Alice; Reimu X Yukari_

Marisa flew down low over the roof of Hakurei shrine and came in to land near the little font of holy water. She leaped off her broomstick and after washing her hands and flicking a bit of water in her face, she hurried down the front path to the shrine itself.

Reimu was hard at work sweeping the steps in front of the donation box.

She always seemed to be sweeping that particular part of the shrine grounds. Once, Marisa had joked that it was all just a ploy to attract more donations, but Reimu had snorted and muttered that she was mistaken and that the shrine-maiden of Hakurei had to treat all parts of the shrine grounds equally.

Marisa grinned at the memory. With her broomstick shoved under her arm, she fumbled about in her robes and then slipped past the miko and dropped a five yen piece in the donation box.

At the sound of the coin tinging against the wooden bottom of the empty box, Reimu looked up from her sweeping.

"Thank you for your kindness." There was no smile on her face. She seemed even more serious than usual.

"Yo," said Marisa, raising her hand in greeting.

Reimu returned to her sweeping.

Marisa sighed. "Hey, why don't you take a break and make some tea? I don't think that step's going to get any cleaner than it already is."

Reimu stopped sweeping and eyed the witch. "You think five yen is enough of a donation to allow you to demand tea?" Then at last a rueful smile appeared on her face. "I guess you'll want some daifuku as well."

"You have daifuku?" Marisa began to follow her inside, but then she stopped dead. "Wait. You can tell the value of a coin just on the sound of it hitting the bottom of the donation box? That's scary."

There was no reply from inside the priestess' quarters, just the sound of water being poured and the subdued clatter of crockery. Reimu soon came back out with a tray and sat down on the porch. She poked the tray under Marisa's nose.

"Smells good, yo. Is this that tea that Yukari gave you?"

Reimu nodded. "She may be a perverted youkai," she sniffed. "But she has excellent taste in tea."

They sat together in familiar silence. Beyond the torii, the hills shone in the late-autumn stillness as if the whole world had been captured in glass.

Her mouth full of daifuku, Marisa suddenly broke the silence. "Hey. I've been meaning to ask ya something."

"Mmm?" Reimu muttered, sipping her tea.

"You kinda took off a bit abruptly from my place the other day. Is everything alright?"

Reimu swallowed, nodded.

Marisa eyed her, taking another bite of daifuku as she did so. "Really? 'Cause I got the feeling that we were boring you, what with all that talk of grimoires and stuff like that."

Reimu's turned towards her, eyes flashing. Then she sighed. She lay back on her elbows, staring out across the shrine grounds.

"Marisa, what's your relationship with Alice?"

Marisa stopped chewing, swallowed the rest of the daifuku and almost choked as she did so. She took a hasty draught of tea and replied, "Uh, that's a bit of a blunt question isn't it?"

"I'm sorry," said Reimu. "I misworded the question. I'm just wondering why- why you're friends with her."

"Well, we go back quite a while. I mean, way back to that incident all those years ago..."

"No, I mean - I know how you too met and became friends, it's just... well, I guess I'm wondering what the two of you have in common. Besides your magic, of course."

Marisa frowned. "Besides our magic? You know, me and Alice don't ever really talk about magic."

"She often visits you though, doesn't she?"

"She often visits the shrine as well, right?"

Reimu stared down into her cup. "Not as much as she used to."

Marisa scratched the side of her nose. "I guess I visit her as well. We're neighbours, after all. I often go there to borrow her books and stuff."

Reimu's eyes narrowed. "'Borrow'?"

"Hahaha, well..."

"Would you say you're close friends?"

"It depends what you mean by-"

"As close as us?"

Marisa laughed. "So _that's_ what this is all about."

Reimu turned to her, her lips a thin line. "What do you mean, '_that's'_ what this is all about?"

Marisa grinned and placed a hand on Reimu's shoulder. "There's no reason to be jealous, Reimu. Alice and I are close, but you'll always be my best friend."

Reimu turned the edges of her lips upwards into something she hoped would pass as a smile. She replaced her cup on the tray, praying that Marisa wouldn't notice how much her fingers were trembling. Marisa took her own hand from Reimu's shoulder, still smiling.

Putting her own hands in her lap, Reimu said, "I'm not worried about that."

"Then what are you worried about?"

The miko made no reply.

Marisa lay back. She stared out across the forecourt of the shrine. A sparrow was hopping along the lower horizontal beam of the _torii_. Beyond, the forest had lost the brilliant red and yellow of autumn. A few leaves clung to the maples here and there, but soon they'd fall, leaving the branches bare. There was a touch of winter chill in the air.

She's always moody this time of year,

thought Marisa. _It's around now that Yukari's gets ready to go back to sleep, but it's too early for Cirno to be out._ _She's just lonely, I guess._

Reimu felt the silence become awkward. She began to say something, stopped, then, wringing her hands together, she managed to say, "Marisa?"

"Mmm?" The sparrow had flown off.

"Doesn't Alice ever annoy you?"

Marisa sat up. "Does Alice annoy me?" She looked down at the folds of her black dress. There was a speck of dust there, and she swept it off. "Sometimes, I guess. I mean, she can be a little... well, _intense_ at times. Comes from living on her own so long, I s'pose. I can relate to that."

"I think it's nice of you to be her friend," said Reimu. "But-"

"But?"

"Don't you think you might be giving her the wrong idea by spending so much time with her?"

"The wrong idea about what?"

"You know. About your relationship."

Marisa turned and looked at Reimu. The miko was staring out down at her lap. She was squeezing her hands together so hard now that the knuckles were white.

"You think Alice thinks of me like that?"

Reimu nodded. She squeezed her eyes together, hard.

_Don't cry don't cry don't cry don't cry._

"Would- would that be a problem?"

Reimu let out a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, Marisa. It's- it's nothing. I'm being foolish." _That wasn't a_ '_no'_. "I'm just worried about you."

Marisa grinned, relieved. "Don't worry about me, yo! I can look after myself. I've been doing it since I was a kid, after all. You'll always be my bro." She finished her tea and stood up. "Hey, I gotta go. I've got a few errands to run in Makai. Thanks for the tea - oh, and the daifuku. I'll see you 'round, okay?"

She was about to mount her broomstick when she felt Reimu grab the sleeve of her robe.

"Marisa, please don't be friends with Alice anymore."

Marisa looked at Reimu. The miko's eyes were downcast, ashamed.

"You're my best friend, Reimu," said the witch, gently. "And I love you. But you can't tell me who to be friends with." She took Reimu's hand gently in her own, held it a while and then let it drop.

Reimu looked up at her. Her eyes were glistening.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Marisa grinned at her. "Don't worry about it, yo." She swung a leg over her broomstick. "Hey, I was planning on visiting those guys at the Scarlet Devil mansion tomorrow to borrow a few things. You wanna come?"

Reimu nodded.

"Awesome. I'll meet you here, then, around ten? We can take a detour via the human village. I hear they've brought in the last of the chestnuts."

Reimu managed a weak smile. Marisa knew how much she loved roast chestnuts. "Ten it is, then."

"It's a date," said Marisa. She winked and with a kick of her right foot against the porch of the temple she propelled herself up into the air.

Reimu watched her until she dwindled into a tiny black dot against the white-patched blueness of the sky. When she was sure she was gone, she slumped back and wiped at the wetness that came unbidden to her eyes with the sleeves of her robe.

"Stupid Marisa," she muttered. _You're going to spend all your time flirting with Patchy and Koakuma and I'll get into an argument with Remilia and..._

...and yet tomorrow couldn't come quick enough.

Reimu sighed and lay back so that her legs were hanging over the edge of the porch. She kicked her feet back and forth, the childishness of the act soothing her as she stared up at the fuda pasted on the eaves of the temple.

One she'd never noticed before read _Cirno woz 'ere_.

The annoyance that rose in her came as a welcome relief.

"That little idiot," she muttered. "Just wait till winter comes."

"Looking forward to getting rid of me already, Reimu?"

A voice, far lower than Cirno's child-like one and sparkling with amusement, came from just behind her head. She recognised it at once. It was a voice that no longer had the power of startling her.

"Just talking to myself," said Reimu.

The youkai's timing was impeccably bad as always.

The voice continued. "Oh, to be a miko, lying on a porch kicking my legs in the air, taking it easy without a care in the world..."

Yukari's face suddenly appeared upside-down above her, that face of ageless beauty with its porcelain skin and its dark violet eyes, the red lips turned up in a smile that hid many secrets.

The face disappeared and Reimu felt her sit down beside her. The miko sat up with a sigh.

"I'm really not in the mood today, Yukari."

Yukari's mouth opened in melodramatic shock. "So cold! And after I took the trouble to come all the way out here-"

"-via gap tunnel-"

"-via gap tunnel, to see you before going into hibernation."

Reimu was unable to stop her frown from deepening. "Already?"

The frown pleased Yukari, who waved her fan towards the torii and the blue hills beyond it. "The winter has come early this year, I fear. I feel it in my bones. Maybe you can sense it too? The birds falling quiet, the sunlight turning grey, the chill on the afternoon air."

Reimu sighed. She had indeed felt it.

"I guess Cirno and the others will be out and about soon," the miko said after a while.

"Who?"

"The ice fairies."

"Oh yes, of course," said Yukari, not the least bit interested.

All of a sudden she leaned over and brought her face closer to the miko's.

"W-what are you doing?" asked Reimu, pulling away.

"Your eyes are puffy and your face is a little flushed. You've been crying, haven't you?"

"No," lied Reimu. "Look, Yukari, I'm a bit busy at the moment so I-" She began to stand up, but Yukari took the sleeve of her robe in one hand and gently stopped her.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you," she said. "Please sit down a while longer. I won't be so crass as to poke my nose into your business. It's just that I would like to share your company for a while." She sighed. "It will be my last chance for so many months, after all."

Reimu sat back down. Being angry at Yukari had distracted her and she felt better. The pain wasn't so bad with someone else here.

"I was going to leave this until after I woke up, so we could celebrate together," said Yukari, reaching into a gap she had conjured up into the air. "But I think you might need it now." She heaved out a large bottle of rice wine and sat it on the porch beside her.

"I- I don't know whether I should-" said Reimu.

"It will do you good," said Yukari. "This is _Onigoroshi_. It's brewed from rice grown in fields not far from the Garden of the Sun. It's said that the rice draws in the sun's light as it grows and holds it in every grain, and you can feel the warmth spread throughout your body when you drink it. Personally, I feel that's just advertising hype, but it _is_ very good."

Yukari brought two sake cups out of the gap and handed one to Reimu. Then she deftly hefted the great bottle, tore off the paper seal, eased out the cork and poured a little into the cup.

Reimu sniffed it. The sake gave off a gentle perfume. In the light of the setting sun its already golden colour reddened into rose.

She took a sip. It was delightful, like drinking liquid sunshine. Her whole body filled with warmth and somehow grew lighter.

"Good, isn't it?"

Reimu licked her lips and nodded.

Yukari put down the bottle and Reimu moved to take it and pour her a drink, but the youkai gently slapped her hand away.

"Please allow me to spoil you tonight, Reimu."

"You really don't have to-"

"Just humour this old demon. I never get the chance to pour anyone's drinks for them." She inclined her head towards Reimu's now empty cup. "Seconds?"

Reimu nodded, giggling. "I suddenly feel like I'm in a host bar."

"A what bar?"

Reimu blushed, looked down at her drink. "Sanae told me all about them. It's a bar where there are all these beautiful young men or women and they-"

"Oh yes," said the youkai. "In the Outside world. I know the sort of place you mean. Well, the miko of Moriya Shrine would certainly be familiar with that sort of establishment."

"That's a mean thing to say," said Reimu.

"Perhaps it is," said Yukari.

"It's true though." Reimu stifled a giggle. She looked down at the cup. "I think I should slow down. This stuff tastes pretty potent."

"It won't give you a hangover," said Yukari. "So please let your hair down."

Reimu eyed the youkai over the cup as she took a sip. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Whatever for?"

"You know, to have your wicked way with me."

Yukari was scandalised. "Is that the sort of person you think I am?"

"I'm sorry," said Reimu.

Yukari waved her fan dismissively. "Well, I _am_ that sort of person. But I promise that tonight my motives are pure and honourable." She refilled Reimu's already empty cup.

Reimu nursed it. "So it's going to be a cold winter, huh?"

"All signs point to yes," said Yukari.

~o~

Marisa was almost home when Alice's little doll Shanghai appeared in the air beside her, flying in parallel and keeping pace with her.

"What are you doing here?" asked the witch. "Is Alice around?"

I hope nothing's wrong.

The little doll pointed down at the dark tops of the pine trees below them and waved its arms.

"She wants to see me?"

The little doll nodded, smiling that its message had been understood.

With Shanghai leading the way, Marisa swept downwards and landed in the little clearing not far from Alice's house. When they arrived at the charming straw-thatched fairy-tale cottage, the door opened, and Marisa saw Hourai hovering at the edge of it.

Marisa stepped inside. "Sorry for the intrusion!" she bellowed.

"I'm in here," came Alice's voice.

Hourai took her broomstick from her and placed it next to the door as Marisa kicked off her shoes and slid into the slippers, tapping her toes on the floor to make them fit snugly.

Inside, the house was cluttered with dolls and puppets, but it was an _orderly_ clutter compared to her own pack-rat piles of treasure. Marisa made her way through the living-room, gingerly stepping around all the dolls and puppets. Some were animate and bowed or waved at her, while others merely hung there and followed her with their eyes as she passed by. Alice's dolls took a bit of getting used to. Marisa still wasn't really used to them.

The witch poked her head around the bedroom door, grinning. "Yo."

Alice was sitting up in bed. She was tinkering with a puppet, cradling it in her lap while her delicate fingers deftly worked at tying its strings. At Marisa's greeting, she looked up, a brilliant smile flashing onto her face.

"Thank you for coming," she said, putting the doll aside on the little bedside table. She motioned towards the end of the bed, and Marisa came and sat down.

"Is everything alright?" asked the witch. "You look paler than usual."

It was true. The youkai's usually white skin was almost translucently pale.

Alice smiled wanly. "Just my anaemia."

"Do you need me to go get some medicine?"

She shook her head. "No, thank you. Hourai has already brought some back from Eintei." She nodded at the little jar on the bedside table. "Iron pills." She grimaced. "They give me a stomach ache."

"You're supposed to eat something with them."

"I'm not hungry," she pouted.

"You need to rest, too," said Marisa. "Why don't you have a nap?"

"You know I can't sleep."

Marisa sighed. "Still having nightmares?"

Alice took the glass of water that Hourai brought to her and swallowed some of the iron pills.

"Yuck," she said, sticking her tongue out.

"You ran out of kochoumugen?" Marisa asked.

Alice shrugged. "I don't like to take them too much. Besides, ever since I found that there was another way to keep all those bad dreams away..." She smiled shyly, scooted across and patted the bed beside her.

Marisa frowned. "You want me to spend the night again?"

Alice's face was melodramatically sad. "Is that bad?"

The witch sighed. She clambered over the bed and lay on her side next to Alice, above the sheets.

Alice scooted down under the bedclothes. "You're not getting under the covers?" Her eyes were coquettish.

"Maybe in a little while." Marisa looked the girl over. "You really are pale." She reached forward and stroked a strand of Alice's blonde hair away from her face.

Alice closed her eyes and pressed her head against Marisa's hand. "So will you stay with me tonight?"

Marisa was silent for a while. She cradled Alice's cheek, burying her fingers in the gold strands of hair that fell across her ear.

"Of course I will."

~o~

"Hey, I think I have some snacks around here somewhere. We shouldn't be drinking on an empty stomach."

Reimu stood up and would have fallen off the porch if Yukari had not steadied her.

"Careful!" said the youkai, stifling a giggle with her fan.

"Sorry," said Reimu, blushing. "I guess I just got up too fast."

She disappeared inside and rummaged around in the priestess's quarters for what seemed like an eternity. Yukari sat there, sipping her drink daintily and watching the cranes flying home across the darkening sky.

"Found them!" came Reimu's voice at last. She sat down ungracefully and placed a bowl of senbei in front of Yukari. "Nori-senbei!"

"You have such traditional taste, my dear Reimu," said Yukari, eyeing the bowl. "At times it's almost austere."

Reimu blinked. "Austere?"

"Oh, nori-senbei is a very appropriate choice for the miko of Hakurei Shrine. But perhaps you'd like to try some snacks from the Outside World for a change?"

"What kind of snacks?"

"Well, let's see..." Yukari opened a gap and reached into it, retrieving a plastic back filled with different packages.

"Who's Lawson?" asked Reimu, reading the side of the bag.

"It's the name of a shop in the Outside World," Yukari explained. She began taking things out. "Let us see. We've got Jagariko, Black Thunder - such a flashy name don't you think? - Pretz, Meiji chocolate..."

"I think I'll have some chocolate. I've tried that before."

"I don't know if chocolate will really go well with rice wine," said Yukari as she opened one of the packets. "Have you tried Pretz? They're quite similar to _senbei_." She put a pretzel straw in her mouth and snapped it in two. "These are takoyaki flavoured."

Reimu frowned. "Maybe you're right. I guess I'll have some Pretz too..."

She leaned over to take one from the packet Yukari was holding, but the youkai snatched it away from her.

"Hey!"

"I've got your Pretz right here," said Yukari, waggling the half of the straw that was still in her mouth.

"That's gross," said Reimu.

"It's just a game."

"You're supposed to use those other ones... what're they called? Pocky. Just give me a fresh one."

Yukari chomped down on the Pretz. Then she slid another out of the packet and waggled it at Reimu. "Say 'Ah!'"

"Don't be stupid," snapped Reimu, snatching it out of her hands.

"I was just teasing," said Yukari with a pout.

"You're a perverted old hag," muttered Reimu as she nibbled at the snack.

As the two sat and ate, they watched the final glow of the sun melt away on the horizon. The air was still. In truth there was a tingling chill to it, almost like the threat of snow. Reimu suddenly shivered and moved over closer to Yukari. "It is cold, isn't it."

"Drinking makes you feel colder," said Yukari. "Do you want to go inside?"

"Maybe later," said Reimu. "I want to wait and see the stars come out."

They sat in silence for a long while. The stars as they came out shone sharply in the glass-still air, hanging in the sky like shards of ice.

"Yukari?"

"Mmmm?"

"Thank you for being with me tonight." Reimu leaned closer to the youkai, enjoying the warmth of her body.

Yukari looked down at the girl snuggling against her. "Are - are you propositioning me?" she asked with melodramatic shock.

"You stupid youkai," muttered Reimu.

Silence.

Reimu took a long sip from her cup.

"Maybe," she whispered.

Yukari gave no sign that she had heard anything. She took up the bottle again. "Your cup is empty."

Reimu proffered it to her. "Maybe just a little more."

After filling it, Yukari took up her own full cup and lifted it to Reimu.

"Kampai!"

"Kampai," said Reimu. She brought her cup to her lips, then shook her head. "Wait. We should make a toast."

"To our friendship perhaps?"

"But we're not friends," said Reimu.

Yukari moved the cup away from her lips. "Why do you say that?"

"You already know why. Miko and youkai can't be friends."

"Then what are we?"

Reimu looked up at the sky. "I don't know," she said. "We're just _us_, I guess."

"To us, then," said Yukari. Her smile was hidden by the cup.

"To us," said Reimu.

They both drank.

"I'm so glad you're feeling better," said Yukari.

"I guess I am. A little. Thanks to you."

Silence.

Reimu sighed.

"That's the fifth time you've sighed tonight," said Yukari. "Is my company really so tiresome?"

Reimu shook her head. "Yukari," she said suddenly. "Why does she have to lie all the time?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"Marisa."

"Ah. Your friend. The tomboyish black-and-white witch."

"I don't know if she's all _that_ tomboyish."

"So it was her that-"

"I know where she is right now," said Reimu.

"And where is that?"

Reimu was silent for a long while. "With Alice."

"The blonde with the puppets?" Yukari whistled. "Is that so?"

Reimu clutched at the youkai's robes. "Yukari, you can see through your gaps, right? The Forest of Magic isn't far away and..."

The youkai turned disapproving eyes on her. "Do you really want me to check up on her for you?"

"No." Reimu sighed. "I guess that would make me a bad friend, wouldn't it?"

"Of course, friendship between humans comes so easily," said Yukari without any real rancour. "But it can be lost just as easily. I don't know if you're really thinking of her as a friend, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing," said the youkai. "Just filling up this chilly air with my voice."

Reimu finished her drink and placed the cup on the porch beside her.

"Yukari, I'm sorry about what I said before."

"What was that?"

"About us not being friends. I do think of you as a friend."

The youkai smiled. "Well, well! I'm very glad to hear that."

"Yukari, will you do me a favour?"

"Whatever you wish."

"Can you stay with me tonight? I- I don't think I want to be alone like this."

Yukari placed her hand on Reimu's and patted it. "Of course I will."

"I'll go take out the spare futon."

Reimu stood up too fast and would have fallen straight back down had Yukari not caught her as she fell.

"Hehe, I think I'm drunk." Reimu steadied herself against Yukari, and as she did her hands slid around the taller woman's waist.

"I think you are. Here, let me help."

Yukari closed the amadoa and led her inside. Reimu clung to her for balance.

"Yukari?"

"Hmmm?" The youkai glanced down. Reimu was snuggling her face into her shoulder.

"Why do you always smell so nice?"

In the darkness Yukari felt her face grow hot.

~o~

"Ah! That's refreshing." Marisa rubbed at her wet hair with one of Alice's gorgeously fluffy towels. She was wondering how she could smuggle it out of the house and take it home without Alice noticing when Shanghai and Hourai lifted it off her and flew away with it.

"Hey!" squealed the witch, quickly covering her now bare chest with her hands.

Alice giggled from the bed. "Oh, come on, Marisa. You're not some sort of bashful maiden."

Marisa said nothing but scrambled about until she found her slip and slid it over her head. She jumped onto the bed and threw the bedclothes off Alice, who shrieked and flung herself onto her stomach.

"You're not wearing a top?" scolded Marisa. "You'll catch cold."

"My house is magically heated," came Alice's voice, muffled by the pillow.

"And I don't know about your choice of underwear. Bit flashy for a magician, ain't it?"

Alice kicked her legs up and down. "Put the covers back on!"

"Okay, okay." Marisa lay down next to her and pulled the covers over the two of them.

Alice squirmed under the covers on her stomach until her head popped out. She lay it on the pillow and turned to Marisa. The witch was staring up at the ceiling.

"So, do you like them?"

Marisa turned her face to her. "What, the bedclothes?"

Alice pouted. "The pants, silly."

"They're nice," said Marisa.

Alice's blue eyes demanded more.

"Uh," said Marisa, looking back up at the ceiling. "I like the lacy edging. And the colour blue has always suited you."

"I just wanted to surprise you." She smiled shyly.

"Well, I guess I was." Marisa scratched her nose. "I prefer wearing bloomers myself, though. They're just comfier. Easier to wash, too."

Alice sighed. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother..."

She moved closer to the witch and snuggled up to her. When Marisa made no move, Alice slid her hand across her chest.

"This is getting to be a habit," said Marisa.

"You don't like it?" Alice's face was serious.

A pause. "I didn't say that."

Alice lifted herself up on an elbow and began to pepper Marisa's neck just below the ear with kisses.

Marisa sighed. She turned over and kissed Alice on the lips. Then she slid an arm under her and rolled onto her back, lifting the squealing slighter girl on top of her.

Alice swept the hair from her eyes and smiled down at her. "I knew I could convince you. It was the underwear, wasn't it?"

"Actually, it was the whole anaemia thing. You know I can't resist a pale and helpless maiden."

"I really _am_ sick, you know."

"You don't seem so sick now."

"Whenever you're with me, I feel better," said Alice, her eyes shy beneath their long lashes.

Marisa brought her right hand down the girl's naked back, tracing along the spine, until she reached the soft material of the waistband of her pants. She slipped her fingers underneath and began to slide them down.

"Well, I'll say this for pants," said Marisa with a grin. "They're certainly easier to take off than bloomers are."

~o~

"Let's get you out of those clothes. You're likely to strangle yourself with your ribbons if you go to sleep wearing all that."

Reimu giggled. "You sound just like my mother."

"How can I be your mother? I'm only seventeen years old after all."

"You lying old hag!"

"Quit squirming so much. Lift your arms up as if you're going "Banzai!" Yukari muttered.

"Do you really have to wear all these accessories?"

"It's tradition. Besides, unlike some people, a miko can't get away with walking around in a nightdress all the time and calling it her uniform."

"How rude!"

Reimu lay down on the futon and Yukari placed the sheet over her.

"Now make sure you keep your stomach warm or you'll get sick," said the youkai. "Do you need a haramaki?"

Reimu pouted. "You don't need to baby me so much."

"I told you I wanted to spoil you tonight."

Yukari quickly disrobed in the darkness and arranged her clothes in a neat pile. Then she lay down on her own futon and pulled the covers over herself. She stared up at the darkness.

"It's been a while since I've stayed with you, hasn't it, Reimu?"

"It has," said the miko. "It feels like it's just been incident after incident lately, with no time to really relax."

"That's true."

For a long while neither said anything.

"Yukari, are you awake?"

"I am now," said the youkai with a yawn.

"I'm cold."

Yukari heard Reimu moving around. There was a rasping sound as she slid her futon across the tatami mats until it was flush with Yukari's own.

"So you _do_ need a haramaki."

She felt her covers move as Reimu slipped under them.

"I don't know if there's enough room for the two of us on one futon," Yukari protested.

She felt the miko snuggle up to her. She gave an indulgent sigh, slipped her arms around the girl and drew her closer.

"How did you get so warm so quickly?" whispered Reimu.

"Practice. I sleep a lot, remember?"

Reimu looked up at her. "It's so much nicer hugging you than a pillow."

"I certainly hope so," replied Yukari.

"Hey, Yukari?"

"Mmmm?"

"Please kiss me."

The youkaiwas taken aback. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"I don't know," said Reimu. "I just want you to kiss me."

"You're still drunk. I'm getting drunker just smelling your breath."

"I'm fine. I know you want to do it. Kiss me, I mean. You're always touching me. You always act like you're just joking around, but I can tell."

"Is that so?"

"Then you don't deny it."

Yukari made no reply. Instead she asked, "Are you doing this just to get back at her?"

There was a short silence. "Maybe I am. A little. But I really do want you to kiss me."

"Why?"

"I just - I just feel so _cold_ all the time. I hate it." Reimu hugged harder. "You make me feel warm."

Yukari said nothing. She hugged the girl back. Reimu shivered against her, but whether from the cold or excitement she couldn't tell.

"You're not going to kiss me?" asked the miko.

"I'm worried you'll hate me in the morning."

"I won't. I promise."

"But..."

"I'm the miko of Hakurei Shrine," said Reimu. "Youkai or human, everyone is the same to me."

In the darkness of the room Yukari smiled sadly to herself.

She brought a hand to Reimu's face, brushed an errant brown lock from her forehead and kissed it. The miko gazed up at her, her eyes shy and expectant.

_Maybe you really do believe that_, thought Yukari. _But you're not being true to yourself._

She pressed her mouth against Reimu's. The girl gasped, her lips parting, and as Yukari kissed her, she kissed hungrily back.

_I can't help that, though._

_I can only be true to myself._

~o~

Marisa slid out of bed. In the darkness, Alice's house had an almost funereal air. The puppets and dolls were colourless in the grey light of the false dawn. She tiptoed across to the bathroom door, where she surreptitiously opened the linen cupboard and removed the fluffiest towel she could find. She rolled it up and pushed it into her hat.

As she tiptoed towards the front door, she thought she heard Hourai and Shanghai move in their sleep in their little shoebox beds.

Sometimes I wonder if Alice is really the one controlling them. Maybe they do have a life of their own.

Marisa shivered at the thought as she grabbed up her broomstick leaning against the front door. Her fingers were on the knob when she heard Alice murmur.

Marisa sighed and went back into the bedroom. Alice was frowning in her sleep.

A nightmare?

Marisa leaned down and kissed the girl gently on the forehead. The frown melted away and Alice turned over, her breathing becoming deeper and slower.

"I'm sorry Alice," Marisa whispered. "But I really do have to go. I have another promise to keep."

She tiptoed back past the little dolls asleep in their shoebox-beds and snuck out through the door, flying straight up into the chill morning air.

Alice woke up to find Marisa was gone. Sighing, she turned over and ran her fingers up and down the sheets, feeling the warmth the witch's body had left behind.

_She must have just left_.

She grabbed Marisa's pillow and hugged it to her chest, smothering her face against it. It still smelled of her.

"I know where you've gone," whispered Alice. "You always go back to her. But one day, one day you'll stay with me and never go away and leave me again. One day I won't have to share you with someone else. I just know it."

Where her eyes touched the pillow it began to grow wet.

~o~

Yukari awoke with the false dawn. The grey half-light seeped in through the windows, turning everything inside the shrine to a misty dream-world.

Reimu was still clinging to her.

With a sigh, Yukari swept the long strands of black hair that hid the girl's face from her. Reimu murmured, smiling in her sleep, and snuggled closer to her.

She lay there with Reimu in her arms until the first birds began to sing outside. The true dawn had arrived.

Carefully, Yukari extricated herself from the miko's embrace and stepped softly across the tatami to retrieve her clothes. She slipped into them silently, shoved her bed hair under her hat and brushed the creases as best she could from her robes.

Then she tiptoed back to the futons. She rolled up the one had originally been Reimu's, placed it against the wall and then came back and kissed the girl on the cheek.

"Goodbye Reimu," she whispered. "I stayed the night, as I promised. I'm sorry I cannot stay any longer."

She drew a hand across Reimu's forehead, closed her eyes and concentrated. The gaps between all things became distinct to her, thrown into highlight under the power of her magic. As she focused her will, the gaps between the synapses in Reimu's mind widened an almost infinitesimal amount. It was enough, just enough for a memory to lose cohesion, to become as misty and vague as a half-remembered dream.

As the smile faded from Reimu's lips, Yukari took her hand away.

_You might not have hated me today, or tomorrow, but one day, lying in that black-and-white girl's arms, you'd have thought of me lying here next to you, and you'd begin to hate me. I could never live with that._

_Better for all of this to remain some beautiful dream._

She turned away, opened a gap in space and clambered through it without looking back

Yukari stepped out into her own living room. It was empty, but in the kitchen she could hear Ran chopping something.

_Leeks for the miso soup we're having with breakfast no doubt._

Yukari called out to her. "I'm back."

"Welcome home, Lady Yukari," said Ran poking her head out of the kitchen. "Is all well at the Hakurei shrine?"

She nodded. "The weakness in the boundary turned out to be a result of the shrine maiden's unstable psychological state. She was unable to concentrate on maintaining the barrier. I had to stay and counsel her. She is better, now. I will be leaving the boundary in good hands."

Ran sighed. "Humans are so fragile."

_Not only humans, _thought Yukari as she muttered a vague agreement. Then she abruptly yawned.

"Where's Chen?" she asked. There was no sign of the spritely little nekomata. By now, she should have come leaping into the room and thrown her arms around Yukari's knees.

"Still asleep, Lady Yukari. While you were gone she spent the afternoon chasing butterflies and exhausted herself. Shall I go and wake her?

"No. Let the child sleep. I just wanted to see her before I went into hibernation."

"Is it time already?"

Yukari took off her hat and let her hair fall free. "Winter has come early this year, I fear."

"Chen will be disappointed. Do you really need to go to sleep so soon?"

Yukari sat on the couch and began to brush her hair. "I'm afraid so, Ran. I have a lot of dreaming to do."

~o~

Reimu woke up, her head pulsing as if a stream of danmaku was beating against it.

She turned over gingerly under the futon. The pain suddenly flared.

"Ow," she muttered.

She looked out across the tatami blearily and saw a futon rolled up against the far wall.

_Oh, that's right. Yukari was here last night. She must have gone home. She could at least have stuck around to say goodbye._

The last thing she remembered was being tucked into bed. After that, her memory was just scattered images.

_Wait. Did - did Yukari kiss me? Did we-_

She shook her head, but it hurt so she stopped.

Try as she might, the images refused to resolve themselves.

_No. Just some stupid, lewd dream. She probably just groped me in my sleep. That's the last time I drink so much rice-wine._

It was then that Reimu noticed the little box resting near her head. It was tied with a thin red bow, like the one that adorned Yukari's hat. Next to it was a glass of some colourless liquid.

She picked the glass up and sniffed it.

_Water. Thank the kami for that._

The box had the word '_Bufferin'_ written on it. Medicine from the Outside World.

There was a note attached.

_Sorry I lied about the hangover. Take two pills and take it easy today. See you in the Spring. Your friend, Yukari._

"'Friend'," muttered Reimu, shaking her head and wincing at the sudden pain it caused her.

She took the pills and after a while she began to feel better. She was lying on the porch in the morning sunshine, having stowed the futons away, when her sunlight was cut off by someone's shadow and she heard the rustling of robes.

"Yo," came a familiar voice.

"Not so loud!" Reimu got herself up with difficulty. "Is it ten o'clock already?"

Marisa grinned at her. "Busy night?"

"Yukari came over and we had a few drinks."

"She still here?"

"She's gone into hibernation."

"Already?" Marisa looked at the bottle lying against the amadoa and whistled. "You guys polished off the whole thing? That's pretty impressive."

"It was mostly Yukari." Reimu looked at her friend. "How was Makai?"

"Pretty boring," Marisa replied. "You still up for visiting the blood suckers?"

Her head was still fuzzy, but Reimu nodded. "I just hope Flandre doesn't set fire to the place like last time."

"Yeah, that was pretty exciting, wasn't it?"

"A bit too exciting," said Reimu. Then she giggled, but the movement sent her head ringing again.

Marisa looked at her with concern. "Hey, since you're feeling a bit under the weather, why don't you hitch a ride on my broomstick? Just this once."

Reimu blinked in surprise. "Is- is that okay?"

"Of course it is." The witch swung her leg over the broomstick and patted the spot just behind her.

Reimu got on and then with a kick from Marisa they soared up into the air.

The late autumn landscape of Gensoukyou swung by swiftly below them. Reimu leaned forward and rested her forehead against Marisa's back. It was relaxing to not have to worry about flying for once.

"Everything okay back there?" cried the witch over the noise of the wind.

"Yes," replied Reimu. Her head felt cooler, but in her chest her heart had begun to beat faster. "Everything is just fine."

_The End_


End file.
